Parkgate Road
Chester
CH1 4BJ
Tel 01244 512 528
enquiries@chester.ac.uk
www.chester.ac.uk
Open days: October 3 (Chester); October 10 (Warrington)

PERFORMANCE

Sunday Times ranking 83= (86)
Student satisfaction 75.1%
Head teacher ranking 97= (107=)
Peer ranking 95 (115=)
Research quality 43.5%
A-level/Higher points 263
Unemployment 7.2%
Firsts and 2:1s 54.8%
Student/staff ratio 18.3:1
Dropout rate 13.4% (15%)

VITAL STATISTICS

Multimedia

• The Times University Guide table

Undergraduates 7,563 (2,976)
Postgraduates 579 (2,398)
Teaching staff 455
Applications/places 16,082/2,707; 5.9:1 (+2.4%)
Clearing entry 7%
Live in 20% (50%) £48-£97
Bursaries 35%: £1,000
Scholarships Music/sport

SOCIAL MIX

EU/overseas 1.6%/1.3%
Mature 24%
State school 96.8%
Lowest social classes 36.1%
Low-participation areas 15.4%

Established by the Church of England in 1839 as a teacher training college, Chester soon developed a specialism in preparing students for a career in public service. Today, nursing and midwifery is one of the subjects rated excellent for teaching quality, alongside others that include allied health professions, and hospitality, leisure, recreation, sport and tourism.

New animal management and zoo management degrees mean it is no longer just humans who benefit from Chester’s caring graduates. Students get hands-on experience at the zoo-licensed facilities of Roseheath College, near Nantwich in Cheshire, one of three associate institutions.

Undergraduates are encouraged to develop their professional experience and Chester’s work-based learning programme provides links with a wide range of organisations. In the second year of an undergraduate course, most students spend five weeks working in a related industry, giving them a taste of the practical side of their subject.

The university is split between campuses in Chester and Warrington, and a free bus service takes students the 25 miles between the two. The Warrington site is home to the North West Media Centre, with amenities that include journalism suites and television and music studios. It is the primary location for students of innovative vocational courses. New offerings include computing, creative informatics, digital photography and motion graphics.

The Chester campus, which is a short walk from the centre of the city, also has a range of new courses including accounting and finance, economics, English language and politics. Its learning resource centre provides multimedia facilities and a library, and the the campus has a newly-refurbished £4m headquarters for the faculty of health and social care.

Both campuses have purpose-built halls of residence, which provide some of the cheapest university accommodation in the country.

STUDENT VIEW

Olly Howard, students’ union officer:

First impressions Everyone was very approachable and you get to know people very quickly.
Worst feature The distance between the two campuses can cause problems.
Facilities A new library has been built on the Warrington campus. It’s a million times better than the old one.
Deal clincher The nightlife of Chester has a lot to offer. Cheshire is a beautiful part of the country.

Rated excellent (8)
Allied health professions (dietetics, health visiting); business and management (Warrington); English; hospitality, leisure, recreation, sport and tourism (PE and sports science) (Chester); maths, statistics and operational research; nursing and midwifery; subjects allied to medicine; theology and religious studies.

Student satisfaction
English-based studies 86.2; Physical Geography and Environmental Science 81.5; Sports Science 81.2; Psychology 80.5; History and Archaeology 80.1; Philosophy, Theology and Religious studies 79.8; Social Work 78.5; Other Creative Arts 77.8; European Languages and Area studies 77.6; Mathematical Sciences 77.1; Law 76.1; Initial Teacher Training 75; Sociology, Social Policy and Anthropology 73.5; Art and Design 73.2; Performing Arts 72.9; Business 72.8; Computer Science 72.7; Media studies 69.6; Education studies 69.5; Other subjects allied to Medicine 68.6; Communications and Information studies 67.9; Management 67.6; Nursing 67.5; Physical Science 65.4; Agriculture and related subjects 64.5

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